Live leaderboard: Moving day at Honda Classic

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – No matter what happens in his promising career, Barclay Brown will be able to say he held the clubhouse lead at The 150th Open Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews. The 21-year-old amateur from Sheffield, England, took advantage of playing in the second group of the morning in relatively calm conditions to post a very tidy 4-under 68. Here are five things to know about the surprise standout at the Home of Golf. 1. The Fitzpatrick connection Brown is a member of Hallamshire Golf Club, where he is joined by recent U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, and Fitzpatrick’s brother Alex with whom he partnered on the 2021 Walker Cup team. He gained his place in the field with a dominant performance at Final Qualifying at Hollinwell, gaining medalist honors by three strokes, before saying it was Fitzpatrick’s success at Brookline that helped inspire his performance. “Matt was unbelievable (at the U.S. Open) and it was incredible to watch him. He’s texted me to say congratulations, which is really nice of him, and hopefully I can play with him early in the week at St. Andrews,” Brown said at the time. 2. Amateur records Brown is currently ranked 46th in the world amateur golf ranking. He had a 1-2-1 record in the 2021 Walker Cup, partnering with Fitzpatrick in team play. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2020 Amateur Championship at Royal Birkdale in England and shot 70-65 to be the co-medalist in stroke-play at the 2022 Amateur at Royal Lytham but was knocked out in the first round of match play by Gustav Frimodt (4 and 3). He was the 2018 Carris Trophy winner (English Boys’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship). 3. Cardinal at college He plays college golf at Stanford in California where he studies economics and has two years remaining to finish his degree. Recently posted runner up efforts at the Pac-12 Championships and the NCAA Stockton Regional. He won the 2021 Cowboy Classic, finishing at 14-under, one of eight top 10s in his time at Stanford where his scoring average is 71.71. Honors so far include All-Pac-12 Second Team (2022), PING All-Region Team (2021), All-Pac-12 First Team (2021), All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team (2021), Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar (2021), Two-time Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll (2021, 2022). He is also teammates with Michael Thorbjornsen, who recently made a splash as an amateur by finishing 4th at Travelers. 4. Sporting all-rounder Attended the Birkdale School (high school) where he not only played golf, but also was an accomplished badminton, soccer and tennis player. Brown enjoys music, finding good food and working out as his hobbies. 5. New experience at Old Course His only previous experience at the Old Course was a round with his parents when he was a wee lad. “I played when I was probably 9 or 10, but other than that is was my first time,” Brown said. “They used to do a thing in like January or February where you could play the Old Course so we came up as a family and played. I don’t really remember playing it at all … I probably shot in the millions. (Today) I was unbelievably nervous at the start and once I got through the first couple of holes it was nice to calm down a little bit and just get into it. I want to play the best I can and I want to win the Silver Medal (low amateur).”

Click here to read the full article…

Bryson DeChambeau has withdrawn from this week’s PGA Championship due to his hand injury. DeChambeau traveled to Southern Hills on Monday afternoon, in hopes of making his first start since undergoing hand surgery after missing the cut at the Masters. The eight-time TOUR winner cited fatigue in his surgically repaired left hand, according to Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “I’m close, but it’s just not there yet,” DeChambeau said, according to GOLF.com. “I need to make the decision to protect my health in the long term.” DeChambeau spent time at Southern Hills on Tuesday and Wednesday, including range sessions. He hugged Tiger Woods behind No. 9 green, showing Woods the scar from his surgery. DeChambeau said was proud of making the trip to Southern Hills, as he worked through a rehabilitation process from his April 14 surgery to repair a broken hook of hamate bone in his left hand. At the time, he expressed the goal of returning within two months; a PGA appearance would have marked a timetable ahead of schedule. “Being out of the game is not fun,” DeChambeau told Golf Channel on Tuesday. “It’s not a fun thing for me.” DeChambeau was scheduled to commence the PGA Championship at 8:49 a.m. CT Thursday off No. 10, alongside Max Homa and Tyrrell Hatton. He will be replaced by Denny McCarthy. DeChambeau also has been dealing with a torn labrum in his left hip. The injuries forced him to miss both the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, where he was the defending champion, and THE PLAYERS. Against his doctors’ orders, he played the two events preceding the Masters before teeing it up in the year’s first major. DeChambeau said he first felt a “pop” in his hand last November and that he aggravated the injury when he slipped and fell while playing table tennis earlier this year. He has played just six times in 2022, either missing the cut or withdrawing in four of those events. He also finished T58 in the 64-man World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and T25 in the 38-man Sentry Tournament of Champions. He has fallen from fifth to 22nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and his position in both the TOUR Championship and Presidents Cup are both in peril. DeChambeau, who has qualified for East Lake in each of the last four seasons, currently ranks 219th in the FedExCup standings. He is 24th in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings after playing on the last three U.S. international teams, including the United States’ record-setting roster last year. DeChambeau started chipping April 30 while stitches were still in his left hand and posted a video Saturday that showed him hitting balls into a net with a launch monitor showing 192 mph ball speed.

Click here to read the full article…

While Srixon’s Z-Star and Z-Star XV golf balls remain the golf ball of choice for PGA TOUR players, the company’s line of Q-Star golf balls are made for amateur golfers with relatively slower swing speeds who still want premium feel and performance without the premium pricing. This year, the Q-Star golf balls are designed for more distance with an all-new core design. With its new 2019 Q-Star golf balls, Srixon has developed a new “FastLayer Core� that’s made for more ball speed and distance, according to the company. It’s designed to be softer in the center of the core, and it gets firmer around the edges of the core. This design creates more distance without sacrificing feel at impact, says Srixon. The Q-Star golf balls have a 338 Speed Dimple Pattern on their outer layers that’s made to reduce drag as it flies through the air, thus creating a more penetrating ball flight to achieve maximum distance regardless of weather conditions. This dimple pattern combines with Srixon’s familiar Spin Skin technology that’s made with a “Slide-Ring Material,� or SeRM, which is a urethane compound. The material on the outer layer of the golf ball is designed to dig into the grooves of wedges and irons at impact to impart more friction and greater spin on the golf ball. “With the addition of the new FastLayer Core and Spin Skin with SeRM, the latest generation of Q-STAR golf balls deliver superior, all-around performance compared against similar offerings in the market,� said Jeff Brunski, Vice President of Research and Development, in a press release. Srixon’s new Q-Star golf balls will be available on June 28 in both Pure White and Tour Yellow, selling for $26.99 per dozen.

Click here to read the full article…